The present disclosure relates to an improved septic system. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for sanitizing effluent discharged from a septic system.
Municipalities have used ultraviolet (UV) lights to destroy bacteria and viruses in municipal water systems for several years. In drinking water systems, the UV lights may replace the chlorine that is commonly used to treat the water. For example, Orange County, Calif. uses UV technology as the final purification of their wastewater purification project. The output of this system is deemed pure enough to allow it to be injected into the aquifer from which they acquire the drinking water for their water system.
Another common application for UV light purification is for aquariums and ornamental ponds. In these applications, the water is circulated through a UV light purification system to remove bacteria, viruses and algae.
In all of the above-cited examples, the applications are treating very large amounts of water. The circulation pumps and the UV lights are continuously operated as there is always a demand for processing water.
Gray water exiting a conventional septic system of a home and business is typically distributed to the earth through a drain field or leach bed. The earth, through an absorption process, destroys the bacteria and viruses contained in the gray water. Where homes and businesses are built in flood plain areas, such as near lakes and rivers, conventional septic systems are compromised each time the area floods. When flooding occurs, there is no leaching action and the bacteria and viruses are washed directly into the surface water.
Where surface area is required to build a leach bed to destroy the bacteria and viruses or the injection of chlorine is used to destroy the bacteria and viruses contained in the gray water, a UV light purification system of the present disclosure could be used instead. After treatment with the UV light sanitizing system of the present disclosure, the purified gray water may be acceptable to be released into a storm sewer system.
In the business and residential septic system applications, the demand for purification only occurs when a toilet is flushed, a shower is used, a sink is used, or any other activities occur that create wastewater. The demand occurs if the activity causes a storage tank to reach an effluent level that causes a pump in the storage tank to be actuated.
In one illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, an enhanced septic system includes a storage tank having an inlet that receives liquid gray water from a standard septic system having at least one digester and a pump located in the storage tank. The pump is coupled to an actuator to selectively provide power to the pump from a power supply to pump the gray water from the storage tank when the gray water reaches a predetermined level within the storage tank. The system also includes an outlet pipe coupled to the storage tank and to receive gray water pumped from the storage tank by the pump, at least one ultraviolet light in communication with the outlet pipe, and a detector to determine when the pump is actuated and to turn on the at least one ultraviolet light upon actuation of the pump.
In one illustrated embodiment, the detector is a current sensing switch configured to sense current flow from the power supply to the pump. The current sensing switch closes a switch to provide power from the power supply to the at least one ultraviolet light when current flow to the pump is detected. The current sensing switch is open to turn off the at least one ultraviolet light when no current is flowing from the power supply to the pump.
In another illustrated embodiment of the present disclosure, a method is provided for handling gray water from a standard septic system with at least one digester. The method includes storing the gray water in a storage tank, pumping gray water from the storage tank through an outlet pipe with a pump when the gray water level in the storage tank reaches a predetermined level, turning on at least one ultraviolet light to expose the gray water within the outlet pipe to ultraviolet light during the pumping step, and turning off the at least one ultraviolet light upon completion of the pumping step.
In an illustrated embodiment, the method also includes determining when the pump is actuated to pump gray water from the storage tank through the outlet pipe during the pumping step. The step of turning on at least one ultraviolet light to expose the gray water within the outlet pipe to ultraviolet light occurs upon detecting that the pump has been actuated. In one illustrated embodiment, the determining step includes detecting a current flowing from a power supply to the pump. In this embodiment, power is supplied to turn on the at least one ultraviolet light when current flow to the pump is detected.
The above-mentioned and other features of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention itself will be better understood by reference to the following description of illustrated embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.